New administrators ready for Central Point school year

Central Point School District will begin next school year with new leadership in human resources and at Crater High School.

By Paris Achen

Central Point School District will begin next school year with new leadership in human resources and at Crater High School.

Mike Meunier, principal of Crater School of Business, Innovation & Science, has been promoted to district human resources director, replacing former Human Resources Director Bob Bowers, who retired after a nearly 30-year career in the district of about 4,700 students.

"It's something I've been interested in for a while," Meunier said. "I'm interested in systemizing teacher-evaluation procedures and would really like to see us get to the point where the function of the evaluation is a little more tied to improving teaching."

Meunier served as principal for three years, previously working as Crater's assistant principal for three years before the high school's conversion to "small schools" under the Oregon Small Schools Initiative. The small-schools concept divides a large campus into smaller campuses according to a theme that sparks students' interests. With smaller communities, teachers and students have a better chance of getting to know each other, which is viewed as a means to increase motivation and academic performance.

Meunier began teaching in 1989 at Scenic Middle School, starting out in a sixth grade class. In 2001, he was promoted to vice principal.

He has a master's degree in administration from Portland State University.

Two of Crater's four principals, each of whom head a "small school," have changed.

Todd Bennett, teaching coach at Business, Innovation & Science, will serve as that small school's new principal, replacing Meunier.

Bennett was instrumental in creating Crater's School of Business, a concept that allowed students to explore certain interests in a smaller school environment, said Central Point schools Superintendent Randy Gravon.

Bennett became a teacher in 1995 at Crater, teaching business and English. In 2007, he became a teaching coach when Crater converted to small schools.

Tom Rambo, dean at Central Point's Scenic Middle School, has been promoted to head the Crater Academy of Natural Sciences, formerly led by Kay Dorner.

"His family has lived in the area for a long time, and they have a long connection with the agricultural community," Gravon said. "He was a natural fit in that position (at the Academy of Natural Sciences)."

Dorner, who was the school's principal for three years, will become a school psychologist for Central Point's secondary schools. The district previously had only one psychologist, and Dorner will help enhance secondary counseling services, Gravon said.

Rambo has been an educator since 1998. He began teaching social studies at Scenic. In 2006, he was promoted dean at the middle school.

He has a master's degree in education from Eastern Oregon University and an administrator's credential from Portland State University.